The Stranger from the Gate
by agent000
Summary: The Halliwells find a badly injured and barely conscious teenage boy on their doorstep. He's obviously not from around here. Who is he, where did he come from, and what does he want?
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey, everyone! Here's a new story that's been floating around in my head for awhile, so I just thought that I'd write it out and see what happens. Please review, and let me know if you like it, so that I can know whether to continue it or not.**_

_**On the Charmed timeline, this story takes place near the end of the third season. Phebe's and Piper's powers have grown, and Prue is still alive.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. This is fan fiction! Heh.**_

The sound of an explosion could be heard throughout the Halliwell Manor.

"What the heck was that?" said Phebe.

"I didn't do it, honest!" said Piper, "My new power is a little out of control, but not THAT bad!"

"What was it, then?" asked Phebe. Just then, Prue came down the stairs.

"Did you guys hear that explosion?" asked Prue.

"Yeah, we were just trying to figure out what it was," said Piper, holding up her hands, 'Because it wasn't me, I swear!"

Prue looked at Piper for a moment, then switched her gaze to Phebe, and then to the front door. "If this is about a demon or a warlock," said Prue, "Then they're either in the attic or at the front door. They always are."

"Then what do we do?" said Piper.

"What else?" said Phebe, "Let's see who's at the door."

Reluctantly, the two other Halliwell sisters followed Phebe to the front door. Phebe placed her hand on the handle, and took a deep breath. "Okay, she said, "Here we go. Be ready."

She swung open the door and was about the strike a fight position, when she noticed that no one was standing there. She heard a moan coming from below her, so she cast her eyes down at her feet.

There at her feet, badly hurt and almost unconscious, was a child, possibly in his early teens. Without lifting his head, he reached out a gloved hand in Phebe's direction, and said, "Please…" His voice trailed off, and his arm went limp.

"I need some help here, quick!" said Phebe. She and her sisters gently picked up the boy and carried him into the living room, where they laid him on the couch.

Prue took over. "Now, fetch me some clean water and towels, and some antiseptic cream. He's covered with blood."

The sisters rushed and did as she asked. They were soon back in the living room with the items requested. Prue looked concerned.

"What's the matter?" asked Piper.

"He's been calling for someone named 'Al'," she said. Prue paused. "And I just noticed this." She lifted up the sleeve of the boy's right arm to expose…a mechanical arm!

"What the…?" said Piper.

"We don't have anything that advanced, do we?" said Phebe.

"That's what concerns me," said Prue, "I don't know who, or what, he is, why he's here, or where he comes from."

"Well, at least we know that he's not a warlock," said Piper, "Warlocks don't bleed."

"True," said Prue, "But I still can't help but be concerned."

"Well," said Phebe, "We'd better get these wounds dressed, or who he is won't be our only concern."

So, the three sisters dressed the boy's wounds, and then carefully carried him into the guest room, and laid him on the bed. They would let him get some rest. Answers would come later.

"So, who do you think he is?" asked Phebe.

"Book of Shadows," said Prue, pointing down the hall toward the attic. She motioned for her sisters to follow her, so the two other women just shrugged their shoulders and followed.

As soon as everyone was in the attic and the door had been shut, Prue went over to the stand where the Book of Shadows rested and started flipping through pages, obviously looking for something.

"What are you doing, Prue?" asked Phebe. What could Prue possibly be looking for?

"When we were cleaning him up, I saw a strange symbol on his jacket, and I know I've seen it in here before," said Prue.

"Really? I didn't see anything. Did you, Piper?" asked Phebe. Piper shooke her head. "So what did it look like?"

"It looked like a snake on a cross," said Prue.

"Wait, I think I know the symbol you're talking about," said Piper, "I've seen that in there too. Here, let me help." Piper pushed Prue aside, and started flipping through the pages herself.

After a moment, Piper said, "I've found it! Is this what you were looking for?"

Prue looked over Piper's shoulder, and saw the symbol of the snake on a cross. "Yes, that is. What does it say?"

"It doesn't say much," said Piper. "It say that this is a symbol for a certain order of alchemists, but it doesn't say whether they're good or bad."

"So, in other words, we can't trust this kid until we find out, if we find out," said Prue.

Phebe scoffed. "Come on, he's just a kid! What would a kid know about alchemy? Maybe he's just wearing that symbol because he thinks it looks cool."

Piper thought for a second. "Maybe, or he could be an apprentice to an alchemist."

"Well," said Prue, "I don't trust him either way. That last alchemist we met was a really shade character. We should find that vanquishing spell and keep it handy, just in case we need it."

"But that's a Power of Three spell. It wouldn't work if he got us separated," said Phebe.

"Then we'll just stick together at all times," said Piper, who then suddenly realized that that would be impossible, since she had to go to P3 sometime, and he wasn't old enough to go with them.

The three sisters sighed. Then Phebe threw her hands up into the air in frustration. "Why don't we just wait for him to wake up and give him a chance to explain himself before we pass judgment?"

There was no better idea available, so the other sisters agreed.

After some time had passed, the sisters all gathered outside of the guest room. Phebe knocked on the door. No response. So she decided to walk in without permission, and opened the door. The boy was still asleep.

"Do you think we should be waking him up?" asked Piper, concerned for the boy's privacy.

"Yes, I think we should," said Prue. The other two sisters decided not to argue. Prue and the others walked into the room and stood around the bed.

The boy, apparently sensing them in the room, opened his eyes. "Where…Where am I?" he said.

"You're with friends," said Phebe, sitting down on the bed next to him and patting one of his hands.

"Where's Al, my brother?" he asked. The girls exchanged looks.

"We haven't seen him," said Prue, "Only you appeared on our doorstep."

"I appeared on your doorstep?" said the boy, "How did I get there?"

"We were hoping that you'd be able to tell us that," said Piper. The boy shrugged and shook his head. He obviously hadn't a clue.

Prue pulled out the red jacket that the boy had been wearing. "Can you tell me about this?" she asked.

"That's my jacket," said the boy, obviously unsure of what she was getting at.

Prue turned the jacket around and pointed to the symbol on the back. "What about this?" she asked.

"That's an alchemy crest," said the boy. The sisters exchanged glances. So, this boy knew what it was after all. Stranger still what that he wasn't trying to hide it. Did he just think the symbol looked cool?

"So, if you don't mind my asking," said Prue, "Why do you have an alchemy crest on your jacket?"

"Because I just so happen to be an alchemist," said the boy. The sisters looked at each other again. This boy was honest, no doubt about that, but was he a threat?

The boy half chuckled, half choked. He had obviously noticed the nervousness. "I see that alchemy scares you. I'm not in my own world anymore, am I? Everyone know about alchemy in my world."

"Your…WORLD?" said Piper, "Where the heck are you from?"

"How should I know?" said the boy, placing a hand on his face in frustration, "Up until now, I didn't even know that other worlds existed. It's just that everything is so different here, this can't be my world."

Phebe leaned closer to the boy, and said, "This may sound like a silly question, but you're not going to hurt us, are you? We've had a bad experience with an alchemist in the past."

The boy removed his hand from his face and looked straight at Phebe. For the first time, she noticed his gold-colored eyes, which matched his long, blond hair. No, he was definitely not from around here.

"Why would I hurt you? An alchemist is supposed to do goof for the people. That's a shame that you were treated so badly by another alchemist. If you point him out, I'll teah him a lesson," said the boy.

"He's…uh…already been…taught," said Piper. She didn't think that telling this young alchemist how they'd vanquished another alchemist with a spell would go over too well.

The boy relaxed back into his pillow. "Very well," said he, "Now, do you know anyone who knows anything about the Gate?"

"What's 'the Gate'?" said Piper.

"It's the portal between our worlds. I must've gotten here that way, and that's the only way I can think of to get back, but I need to find someone that knows how to summon the Gate," said the boy.

"I've never heard of the Gate," said Prue, "What kind of people know about it in your world?"

"A very select few alchemists," answered the boy, "All of which I could count on one hand. Since alchemy's not prevalent here, it would probably be some other type of person, perhaps a psychic or a witch."

The sisters exchanged glances again. If he was to get any help in this world, the Charmed Ones were his best bet. However, was he a shady character like that last alchemist, or was he their innocent? They could do nothing but wait and see, for the boy had just gone back to sleep.

_**Thanks for reading my story, now review and tell me how you liked it!**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Here's the next chapter, hope you all enjoy it. Leave me some feedback if you like it, or have a suggestion or question.**_

_**Thanks to those that asked me questions or offered suggestions. They were really helpful. I addressed the apparent contradiction in this chapter, so that you'll understand WHY he said the things he said about the Gate. Also, I've seen the youngest Halliwell sister's name spelled "Phebe" and "Phoebe". I was just following the convention and spelling it "Phebe", but I'd happily do whatever my readers want. Which spelling do you prefer?**_

_**Anyway, enjoy the story.**_

**_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story. It is merely fan fiction. That's right, I don't even own the kid, though I wish I did, heh._**

"Leo," called the sisters, all staring at the ceiling, "Leo!"

Soon, white particles of light descended into the room and materialized into Piper's husband, Leo.

"What's the matter?" said Leo, "The Elders didn't exactly want me to leave just yet."

"Don't worry," said Piper, "We'll be sending you right back there anyway. We need some information."

"What about?" said Leo.

"We have a young guest who appears to be an alchemist," said Prue, "And he mentioned something called 'the Gate'. We need to know what 'the Gate' is, as well as if this kid is our innocent or our enemy. Of course, we're not even sure that he's telling the truth. He seemed to contradict himself back there."

"An alchemist, huh?" said Leo, rubbing the back of his head. "Did you find out his name, but any chance?"

"No," Piper shook her head, "He fell back asleep too quickly. We do know that he wears a red overcoat with an alchemy crest on the back, and that he has a mechanical right arm."

"Red coat, mechanical arm, and a kid?" said Leo, "That's probably enough information to single him out. I'll be back as soon as I can. Take care of yourselves."

Leo leaned over and gave Piper a kiss, then orbed out.

The three women puttered around the house for the next few hours, waiting for the boy to wake up. Now the sun was about to set, and they hadn't been outside at all today, so they decided to step outside for a few minutes.

It was at that moment that the boy finally woke up. He rubbed his eyes, sat up, and then climbed out of the bed. As he made his way down the stairs, he called out, "Hello, is anybody here?"

Hearing no reply, he walked all the way downstairs, and into the sitting room, hoping to find someone.

Just then, a demon smashed through the stained-glass window, grabbed the boy by the neck, and slammed him against the wall.

"Where are the Charmed Ones?" demanded the demon in a gruff, angry voice.

"I don't know what you're talking about," said the boy.

The demon gripped his throat even tighter, and said, "The three sister witches who live in this house, where are they?"

The boy struggled to speak, in spite of the constriction on this throat, and said, "If…you're talking about…who I think you are…then…" The boy clapped his hands together and then grabbed the demon's arm. Blue sparks arose out of the boy's hands, and the demon hurriedly released his grasp. The boy fell to the floor, but managed to land on his hands and knees.

He looked back up at the demon, and finished what he was about to say, "Then…I don't think they're interested in talking to you!"

He clapped his hands together again, which again caused blue sparks to fly out of his hand. This time, however, a blade grew out of his mechanical arm.

"When someone does me a kindness, I'll do them a kindness in return," said the boy, "If you want to get to them, you'll have to get through me first."

The boy then lunged at the demon, only to have the demon jump out of the way at the last moment. He then struck a blow to the back of the boy's head, sending him toppling to the floor.

Not dissuaded, the boy jumped back up and once again tried to rush the demon. The demon just jumped out of the boy's way again, and then grabbed him by his neck, making sure to hold only his mechanical arm this time.

"Now," said the demon with an evil tone in his voice, "Give me your power."

"I…don't…have…a power," said the boy as best he could amidst the choke hold he was in, "This…is a…learned…skill."

"Then I guess I'll just kill you now, and then go and steal the Charmed Ones' powers," said the demon, who proceeded to tighten his grip around the boy's neck.

Just then, Prue jumped into the room through the broken window, waved her hand, and sent the demon crashing into a wall. The demon shook his head, got up, and started angrily charging for the Charmed Ones.

Piper then stepped in front of Pre, and threw up her hands. The demon froze in place. The boy had a shocked expression on his face.

"Don't just freeze hi, you idiot," said Prue, "Blow him up!"

Piper threw up her hands again, and the demon exploded before their eyes. All that remained was a burn spot on the floor where he'd been.

No one spoke for a moment. The boy had caught them using their powers, so what would happen now?

Finally, the boy spoke up. "What exactly was that thing?"

The sisters exchanged glances again, and Piper decided that she'd be the one to explain it to him. "That was a demon, son, he was evil."

"Good," said the boy, standing up, "Then I did the right thing by trying to fight him." The boy chuckled, "Though I can't say that I did a very good job at it."

"You tried to fight off that demon?" said Piper.

The boy shrugged. "A kindness for a kindness, equivalent trade. You helped me, so I was trying to help you."

The sisters looked at each other once again. Had this boy really risked his life to save them?

The boy then cleared his throat. "That demon called you witches, and then I even saw you use your powers. Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Things like that aren't spread around in this world," said Prue, "And if you're smart, you won't tell people that you're an alchemist either. Don't even show anyone that arm of yours; it would cause too many questions to be asked."

The boy looked down at his mechanical arm. It still had the blade on it. He clapped his hands together, and the blade retracted back into his arm.

"So you have to hide in this world, huh?" said the boy. Prue nodded.

Just then, Leo orbed into the room. The boy jumped back. Sure, he'd seen weirder things than that in life, but it still shocked him.

"The information you gave me was more than enough for the elders to figure out who he was," said Leo. "This is Edward Elric, the FullMetal Alchemist."

"Wait a minute!" said the boy, "How did you…"

Leo continued on as if he hadn't heard him. "Edward is apparently a prodigy back in his own world, which is why they let him join the military and become a State Alchemist at the age of twelve."

"I thought he looked about twelve," said Phebe.

"I'M FIFTEEN!" said Edward.

Leo chuckled. "He's been growing faster mentally than physically. He became a State Alchemist nearly four years ago, just after his twelfth birthday."

"Oh, I'm sorry, buddy, I didn't know," said Phebe. Edward stood with his arms crossed for a moment, and then waved his hand at her as if to say, "Forget it."

"What I found most interesting about him is that he always follows his conscience, even if it goes against his orders. He's known as the State Alchemist who sides with the people."

"So, does that mean that we can trust him?" asked Prue.

"The Elders seem to think he's trustworthy," said Leo, "So I'd say it's safe to trust him."

"But what about the contradiction?" said Prue.

"There was no contradiction," said Leo, "The truth is that he knew about the Gate, but he didn't know that it led to another world. He just now figured that part out, didn't you, Ed?"

A smile spread across Edward's face. "It's creepy that I'm being spied on like this, but I'm glad that they decided to report on me so favorably. Yes, I just found out about the Gate leading to this world."

Leo smiled at Edward, and then continued talking. "The Elders had actually noticed Edward's disappearance from his world recently, and weren't sure where to find him. They were glad to find out that you guys found him, since you are the best qualified to get him back to his world. His world needs him back, badly."

"Did you find anything out about 'the Gate'?" said Prue. Leo looked up at the ceiling.

"The Elders are calling me. I'll come back later, and explain it to you as best as I can." He kissed Piper, and orbed out.

Edward put his hand on his forehead. "This is sure a weird family."

Phebe chuckled. "It might take a little while to get used to. It even took us a while to decide whether you were friend or foe."

Edward took his hand off his forehead and looked up at Phebe. "It was hard to figure out, huh? I guess it would be, considering that bad alchemist you ran into before."

"You're probably starved," said Phebe, changing the subject, "Piper, do you have anything made?"

"I have a casserole in the oven," said Piper, "Knock yourselves out. I'm going to P3 now that we don't need the Power of Three."

"What's P3?" asked Edward.

"It's Piper's nightclub," said Phebe, "She has to go there every so often to make sure that things are running smoothly. We just couldn't take you there because, legally, we can only allow admittance to adults."

"Oh, I see," Edward chuckled, "I understand."

"I could always let you see it during the daytime though, when nobody's there," said Piper.

"I'd like that," said Edward.

"Now, you two go get that kid something to eat before he faints," said Piper.

"Aye, aye, Captain Piper!" said Phebe, "See you later." She grabbed Edward's hand, and walked him into the kitchen.

"See ya!" Piper called back, and shut the door.

How am I going to be able to handle staying with a bunch of witches? Thought Edward.

As if she knew what he was thinking, Phebe said, "You'd better watch your step around here, or we'll turn you into a toad."

Prue slapped Phebe. "Don't confuse the poor kid!" Then, turning to Edward, she said, "Don't listen to a thing Phebe says, she's just being obnoxious. Just try to make yourself at home."

Edward smiled. Even though these women were witches, they acted just like normal human beings. He could handle this.

"Thanks," he said, "I'm starting to feel at home here already."

**_Thanks for reading, now review and tell me your thoughts! See you in the next chapter._**


	3. Chapter 3

**_Here's the next chapter, hope you like it. I do not own anything, just having a little fun writing._**

Prue sighed as she pulled the casserold out of the over. "Looks like we'll have to call the window repairman…again."

Edward slapped his hand to his cheek. "I completely forgot about the window, I'm so sorry!"

"Don't worry about it," said Phebe tenderly, "I wasn't your fault."

Edward chuckled. "That's not what I meant. I meant that I'm sorry that I forgot to fix the window. I'll go fix it now, before I forget."

"Fix the window?" said Phebe, a little bit taken aback, "You can do that?"

"Sure," assured Edward, "You can watch me if you'd like."

"I wouldn't miss it," said Phebe.

Edward walked back to the sitting room, with the two sisters right behind him. He stepped in front of the broken window, clapped his hands together, and placed his hands on the window frame. The broken shards flew up, carried by some unseen force, and realigned themselves on the window. It was perfect. One couldn't even tell that it had suffered any damage.

Edward stepped back and examined his work. "Is that the way it's supposed to look? I didn't get much of a chance to see it before that thing destroyed it."

"No," said Phebe, "It looks too good. It outshines the rest of the windows." She winked at Edward.

Edward chuckled. "I could always age it a little if you want."

"No, no, I was just fooling around," said Phebe, shaking her head, "It's perfect, really. Thanks so much for fixing that; you just save us a lot of money."

"I'm just happy to be able to do something for you in return for the kindness you've given me." Edward smiled and then leaned against the window frame. "I hate to be in debt to anyone."

"Oh," Phebe cooed, "You're not in debt to us, Edward. It's our job to help people such as yourself."

"Just the same, I don't like to be outdone by anyone. Touka Koukan." (usually pronounced "to-ka ko-ka" The "n" is often not heard.)

"Toka-what?" said Phebe, a bit confused.

"Touka Koukan," affirmed Edward, "It means equivalent trade. It's the law that governs alchemy, and it's a good principle for the rest of life as well."

"Touka Koukan," Phebe mused, "I'll have to remember that."

"Are you two going to continue gawking, or would you like to come and eat before the food gets cold?" said Prue.

"Did somebody say 'food'?" said Edward excitedly. With that, he broke into a run and headed straight for the kitchen.

Phebe chuckled. Good, she thought, at least he hasn't entirely lost his childhood yet.

By and by, Piper came home. "So, how's the newcomer?"

"He's asleep," said Phebe, "He's still pretty tired after today."

"Oh, the poor guy," said Piper, "I wonder if he'd like to come with me to P3 tomorrow during the day? We could get a chance to talk, and maybe find some things out."

"I'm sure he'd like that," said Phebe, "He said that he'd be interested just before you left."

"Ok, tomorrow it is then. That is, if he's still interested by tomorrow."

"I'm sure he will be," Phebe said with a twinkle in her eye.

Piper woke up the next morning, realizing that Leo had never come home the night before. So, while yawning and stretching, she vowed she would kill him as soon as he showed up. She got up and went out to the kitchen to find something to eat. The other two sisters and their guest were already up and eating breakfast.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," said Prue, a little more cheerful than normal, "How was your sleep?"

"Aside from the fact that that man who calls himself my husband never showed up, it was fine," she yawned. "Do you have a photo shoot today or something? Is that why you're so cheerful?"

"Actually, yes I do," answered Prue, "And Phebe has an appointment today too. We were wondering if you wouldn't mind tending to our guest today."

"I'm not a child, you know," said Edward as he took a sip of orange juice, "I can take care of myself. You don't need to bother yourselves with keeping me occupied."

"True, but how will we figure out how to help you if we don't spend some time with you?" asked Prue.

Edward shrugged his shoulders. "I guess you're right."

"I already said that I'd take him to P3, so sure, I can tend to him today," said Piper.

"Good, it's decided then," said Prue, very much in charge. She finished her meal, then got up and left, barely remembering to say goodbye before she stepped out the door.

"She's the eldest, isn't she?" Edward chuckled. He bit into a piece of toast. "My little brother's always telling me I'm too bossy." He dropped his eyes to his lap. "I…I hope I'll get to see him again."

Phebe patted his arm and tried to console him. "Don't worry, we'll get you back to you world. You'll see your brother again."

Edward managed a weak smile. "I hope so. I really hope so."

After a while, Phebe left for her appointment, so it was just Piper and Edward left at the house. "Well," said Piper, "Shall we hit the road?"

"I'm certainly ready;" he said enthusiastically, "Let's go."

For the first couple hours after they had arrived at P3, Ed was quite enthused with exploring the place and asking all sorts of questions about her work there. However, one thing that Piper neglected to pay attention to was that in spite of Edward's incredible intelligence, he was still very much a kid. Edward soon got bored, and when Piper wasn't looking, he slipped out the back door. He was only going to go for a short walk. He'd be back before she even knew he was gone.

As he was walking, he noticed a group of young adults gathered on the side of the road. What were they doing? He moved closer. Aha, so that's what they were doing! It was a gang taunting a young woman. He couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

Edward pushed his way into the crowd. "Hey, will you leave her alone? She's done nothing to deserve this!"

"Well, well, look at what the cat dragged in," said one of the boys.

"Just let her go, okay?" said Edward defiantly.

The boy that had spoken before grabbed Ed by the collar and said, "And what are you gonna do about it, shorty?"

Ed narrowed his eyes and looked as if sparks would fly out any minute. That was the one thing you never wanted to say to Ed, now he would pay.

Edward clapped his hands together, and held them parallel to the ground. Being held in place by his collar, he couldn't touch the ground, but he didn't really need to if he concentrated hard enough.

The ground started shaking beneath their feet. The boy let go of Edward in order to keep his balance, which was a bad move on his part, because that left Ed free to touch the ground, which he promptly did. A giant stone hand came out of the ground and hit the guy who had called Ed short. Perhaps a bit overdone, Edward though, but if he was going to do something like this, why not do it with some flair?

The guy that was knocked down picked himself back up. "I'm not going to be beaten by a kid, magical or not," said the guy. Turning to his cronies, he said, "Do whatever it takes to get rid of him, but don't let him touch the ground."

One of the henchmen pulled a gun on Edward, and was about to pull the trigger. Edward clapped his hands together. "Oh no, you don't," said the henchman, who repositioned himself so that that Edward couldn't touch the ground without getting shot.

Instead of going for the ground, however, Edward clapped his hands onto the gun itself. Blue sparks arose out of his hands for a few seconds, while all the members of the gang stared wide-eyed at the spectacle.

When he removed his hands, the gun was tied up into a knot! "Face it," said Edward, "Your tactics are useless against me."

Just then, the leader of the gang drew a knife that he had hidden in his belt and came charging after Edward. Edward transmuted the blade onto his mechanical arm again, and prepared to fight the big guy.

"You're nothing without your hocus pocus magic tricks," said the gang leader. "How will you far in close combat?"

"Bring it on," said Edward, a sinister grin crossing his face.

The two fought for some time. They were both amazingly skilled fighters. Every time one would charge, the other would dodge, only to come back with a swing, which the other would block.

The sound of police sirens finally brought the two back to reality. They stopped fighting, but the policemen were already upon them. Both Edward and the gang leader were handcuffed and shoved into patrol cars.

Great, thought Edward, now what should I do? I should have just stayed with Piper. I could easily break out of here, but then I'd be charged with resisting arrest. He sighed and sake down into his seat. This was just not his day.

**_Thanks for reading. Now please review, I like reviews, and it makes me update sooner. Heh._**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Hey, sorry it took me so long to update. I've been busy with another story most of this time. ("My Body, Your Soul" if you want to read it. Also check out "The Zodiac People" while you're at it.) Heh, now I'm advertising for myself! Hehe. Okay, I'll stop.**_

_**Hope that you enjoy the story. Leave me a review if you like it, and maybe I'll update sooner next time. Heh.**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. Enough said, on with the story.**_

Edward was paraded into the police station, and made to sit down so that he could be asked some questions. Darryl walked into the room.

"So, son," he said, sitting down across from Edward, "I'm going to ask you a few questions. I want you to answer them truthfully, because I'm just trying to help you. Is that understood?"

Edward sighed. "Yes, I understand."

"Good," said Darryl, "Now, to start, what is you name, son?"

"My name is Edward Elric."

"How old are you, Edward?"

"I'm fifteen."

"I see. So, where are your parents?"

Edward sighed. What a question to ask! "My father left me when I was very young, and my mother died a few years back."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Darryl, "So who has been taking care of you these past few years?"

"No one," said Edward, "I've been living on my own."

"How could you possibly have been living on your own?" exclaimed Darryl, "You're much too young!"

Edward gave the detective before him a steely glare, and said, "I may look weak to you, but I'm much stronger than you think. My little brother and I have always watched out for each other."

"How touching," Darryl said plainly, "But could you answer me this? Why were you fighting with that other boy?"

"They were harassing an innocent girl," exclaimed Edward, "I couldn't just stand by and do nothing!" He tried to move his hands to emphasize his statement, but felt the constriction on his wrists as a reminder of the handcuffs he was in. He sighed. This really sucked.

"I appreciate your concern," said Darryl, holding up his hand, "But it is not your duty to take the law into your own hands, no matter how right it seems. Your duty, as a citizen of this country, is to alert the local authorities about whatever problems you see."

Heh, thought Edward, I'm not a citizen of this country. I neither know where I am, nor do I know the laws of this place. How am I supposed to know which actions to take in these situations?

Of course, Ed didn't dare speak aloud the thoughts he was thinking. How would he ever explain them?

"Now, Edward," said Darryl, "Could you at least let me know where you're staying right now?"

"I don't know the address," Edward replied.

"Well, do you know anything that could help me to figure out the location? A physical description of the area? A nearby street? A family name? Anything?"

Edward thought for a moment, and then said, "The family name is Halliwell."

Darryl put his hand on his face and said, "Please, don't tell me that it is that same Halliwell family that I think it is."

The handcuffs were really starting to bother Edward, so he clapped his hands together. It was a little difficult to perform alchemy behind his back, but he managed it.

"Oh, and by the way," said Edward, "You really don't need to keep me in there. I'm not going to try and escape." He threw the handcuffs on the desk in front of him.

Darryl removed his hand from his face, stared at the handcuffs, and then placed his hand back over his face. "Yes, it's the same Halliwell family, as I'd feared. Why can't I ever get normal cases anymore?"

* * *

Piper was panicking and running around like a chicken with its head cut off. She had turned her back on Edward for one minute, just one minute, and he disappeared! Her sisters were going to kill her!

Suddenly, her phone rang. She picked it up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Piper, it's me, Phebe."

"Hey, Phebes, what's up kid?"

"I just got a phone call from Darryl. It seems he has Edward down at the station. Weren't you supposed to be watching him?"

Piper breathed a sigh of relief, and then quickly turned to defending herself. "I only turned my back on him for one minute when he disappeared!"

"Hey, don't get so uptight, I'm not mad at you," said Phebe. "Darryl's going to drop Edward by the house, but he's going to want some answers. Apparently, Ed was caught fighting with another boy, trying to defend some girl."

"The little rascal," giggled Piper, "I'll come right home. Thanks for calling me."

"No problem. See you soon." Piper hung up the phone. After quickly double-checking everything to make sure that everything was turned off or locked up, she grabbed her keys and hopped into her car.

After a few minutes, she arrived back at the Manor. Darryl's car was already there, so Piper just parked the car and ran into the house.

"Edward!" she shrieked as soon as she spotted the blond, "Don't ever do that to me again! I was so worried!" She threw her arms around him, leaving Edward not quite sure how to react.

"I-I'm sorry," he said amidst the tight grip Piper was giving him. "Piper, I-can't-breathe."

"Sorry!" she quickly released him, then turned her head to see Darryl standing beside her.

"Would you care to sit down, Ms. Halliwell?" said Darryl, "I'm going to need some answer. This may take awhile."

Piper and Phebe sat down while Darryl continued to stand. Darryl was about to start asking questions when Edward interrupted.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry for interrupting, but what's the name of this city? It's about time I found out."

Darryl shot a look at the sisters, and paused before asking the first question. This was going to take more explanation than he thought. Who could not know the name of San Francisco?

_**Thanks for reading, now please leave me a review, and I'll update much sooner. Questions, comments, and suggestions are quite welcome. (I usually PM those who offer questions, comments, and suggestions too, so if you want a PM from me, include something like that in your review. Heh. Hope to hear from you soon.)**_


	5. Chapter 5

**_I'm so terribly sorry that it took me so long to update this fic! (sob) I had no inspiration for a long time, and then when I finally got an idea, I had no time to update. I'm sorry, sorry, sorry! I finally have a few ideas, so I'll be able to update sooner next time, but please give me some ideas if you have them. I need all the help I can get with this story._**

Heh, I didn't expect my FMA readers to follow me over into this story at the time I wrote it, so I didn't bother to explain everything in the Charmed part. Now I know better, heh. Darryl is a police officer that has found out about the Halliwell sisters, and knows that they do good work, so he's always trying to help them, and manages to cover up for them. The whole "witch" thing kind of scares him though, so he would prefer to not have to deal with such things, but it seems that he doesn't have much choice if he wants them to be able to continue doing what they're doing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Charmed or FullMetal Alchemist. I normally come up with witty sayings for my disclaimers, but I think my imagination's broke. Let me try to come up with the best thing ever: Beef...stew...yep, it's broke alright. (Sadly, I didn't even make THAT up! Heh, pathetic, isn't it?)

The sisters, Darryl, and Edward spent quite some time questioning and trying to explain things. Poor Darryl, somehow he always got these strange supernatural cases that he couldn't explain to anyone. He knew that he could trust the Halliwell sisters to do a better job at handling these cases than he could though, so he always trusted them and covered for them. It was tricky though, and really draining on him. If only he could get a normal case, just once! He had thought that this would be a normal case when he had first accepted it, but no...an alchemist kid from another world can hardly be construed as a normal case.

"Well," said Darryl, "I think that I have all the information I need to know...all that I WANT to know that is. I think I actually know more than I wanted to...but at least I'll be able to write up another cover story for you." He stood up to leave. "Please keep me up to date on this case, if you will. I've been letting too many of these 'bizarre' cases slip through, and my superiors are already on my back about that. If I let a case that has the appearance of being a normal one slip through..." He shuddered at the thought of what his superiors would do to him if he did that. No, he wasn't going to let that happen.

"Don't worry, we'll keep you informed," said Phebe, "As soon as we have any information, we'll call you."

"Good," Darryl nodded his head, "And if you don't call soon enough..." he sighed, "...I'll call you." He sounded a bit regretful of the words he had just said. Why did he have to have this case? Why? Did fate hate him?

"Sounds fine to me," said Phebe in her overly-bubbly manner of speaking. "Would you like a cup of coffee or something? You must be tired after all that questioning."

"Thank you, but no," said Darryl, "If you don't mind, I'd just like to get back to the station." He said goodbye and then promptly headed out the door. He'd spent too much time at this house today, he had to get out. Too many weird things happened here, and he really didn't want to see more than he had to.

"Well, I guess that's that," said Piper to no one in particular. She then turned to Edward. "Now do you see why you need to hide in this world? You're lucky that you got off so easily. If it hadn't been Darryl that had come along, I don't know what..."

Edward held up his hand to interrupt her. "I'm sorry, I've learned my lesson, and I won't do it again. Let's...talk about something else...it's kind of embarrassing to think about getting arrested like that."

"Sure," said Piper, who started to head into the kitchen to start preparing dinner, and then turned back around and faced Edward. "But why did you try to take things into your own hands anyway? Surely your common sense told you that you'd get in trouble if you tried to do so."

"That's not talking about something different!" Edward shouted, half-jokingly, though still a bit irritated. The sisters laughed, so he lightened up, and answered the question. "Well, I'm in the military back in my homeworld, so I'm not used to having to call the police...I AM the police."

"They let a kid in the military?" asked Piper.

Edward growled under his breath. "Look, will you stop calling me a kid? Yes, they let me in the military because I had the skills to be a State Alchemist, which very few adults even have. I only joined the military because they provided research funds and travel expenses so that I could..." his voice trailed off.

"So that you could what?" prodded Phebe.

Edward waved his hand. "Never mind." Phebe and Piper sighed. They were curious as to what he had been about to say, but they understood that it must have been hard to talk about. Maybe they'd get it out of him sooner or later, when he was ready to talk about it.

Edward suddenly pushed himself up from his chair. "I need to clear my head. I'm going for a walk."

"Not without us, you aren't," said Phebe, stepping into his path and blocking his exit from the room.

Edward sighed and let his shoulders droop. "Oh, come on! I already learned my lesson; I'm not going to get into trouble again!"

"Just the same," said Piper as she came walking into the room, "It's still pretty dangerous for you to venture out alone. You don't know this world, and this is San Francisco. It's not exactly the most welcoming city to a person from the outside...or to someone from the inside, for that matter."

Edward put up his hands in resignation. He knew he was beaten, so he didn't see any point in fighting about it anymore. "Okay, fine, whatever...just let me walk a little distance behind you so that I can have room to think, okay?"

The sisters exchanged glances. They weren't quite sure about this...but they couldn't ignore those pleading eyes of Edward's. The poor little guy was so overwhelmed with all that had happened to him in recent days...how could he not be? He surely did need a chance to just work it out of his system, and a walk would probably be the best method for doing that. They sighed. Fine, if he so badly needed some space, they'd give him some space, but they'd surely be keeping their eyes on him, all the time.

Now that they'd settled their differences, the threesome proceeded out of the front door, and down the street. The two sisters were walking up in front, talking about something or other, and Edward was trailing behind, thinking and muttering to himself at a decibel level that only he could hear, if even he could hear it.

They weren't particularly paying attention to where they were going, and soon they found themselves in a neighborhood that was in a little bit of disrepair, though it wasn't what one would call a "bad" side of town either, just a little run down. It kind of gave this area a rustic look, which was quite interesting. A more interesting facet about this side of town was the fact that there were a lot of old train tracks here that were no longer in use. They had just been abandoned when they started wearing down, since it was cheaper to just leave them there than to pull up the tracks.

Phebe reached down and picked up a rock. She toyed with it in her hand for a moment, and then threw it so that it bounced off of one of the tracks. "Heh," she said, "Hey, Piper, why don't we follow the tracks and see where they lead?"

"Why?" asked Piper.

"I don't know...just...because?"

Piper shrugged and followed her sister. There was nothing better to do anyway. She turned around to see if Edward was alright, and then turned again to see her younger sister trying to balance on the metal part of the tracks as she walked along. "Such a child," said Piper to herself, "She'll never grow up, will she?" Still, she couldn't help but laugh at Phebe's labored attempts to stay balanced. Even with all the kickboxing she practiced, she still had trouble staying balanced on train tracks? This was slightly amusing.

After a while of following the tracks, they found where they led: straight into a wall. That was weird, thought Piper. The people that built this building must've been so lazy that they didn't even bother to pull up the tracks around the building before they built the building over them. It did kind of lent an eerie air to the place though, with tracks that went nowhere.

"Hey, that's cool!" said Phebe, jumping down off of the tracks and running over to touch the wall. Piper smiled. Phebe was silly, very silly. As soon as Phebe touched the wall, however, she gasped and looked like she had suddenly gotten dizzy.

"What's the matter, Phebe?" asked Piper in a concerned voice.

"I...I think I just had a premonition..."

"What did you see?"

"...A train...coming down these tracks..." said Phebe, quite unsure of herself, since a train coming down these tracks made absolutely no sense, considering how they were useless now, and in disrepair.

"How can that be?" said Piper, "Maybe your premonition was just wrong this time."

"Maybe..." Phebe began, but was cut off by a sudden sound. "Wait, did you hear that?"

"Did I hear what?" asked Piper.

"A train whistle...I heard a train whistle..."

"Now you're hearing things," said Piper with a laugh.

"No, I'm serious, I..." She then let out a scream.

"Phebe!" Piper looked around to see what could have caused her sister to scream, but by the time that she looked back at where her sister had been...she was gone. Phebe had just disappeared before her very eyes.

**_Hope that you enjoyed the chapter. If you want me to post another one anytime soon, leave me some reviews. I now accept anonymous reviews, so you don't have any excuse now, do you? Heh. Hope to see you soon! (Just remember to be nice, no flames. I'm only doing this for fun, so you should only be reading this for fun, heh.)_**


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